Feif Un

Sure, I have an idea. If you enjoy them, then listen to them!

Oh, did you want recommendations for specific songs?

Don’t bother with anything put out over the last 10 years. Get some old Shmuel Brazil and Abie Rotenberg albums.

If you’re worried about the cost of buying food, then try this: don’t go to the mountains at all! Stay home! It costs way more to go to the mountains than to buy some food for yourself.

gavra: When chassidim say they’re going to boycott the siyum because a Zionist will be speaking, it isn’t a show of achdus. It’s very sad, especially during this time of year.

The Beis Hamikdash was destroyed because of sinas chinam, and these people are preventing it from being rebuilt.

Syag: In the MO community I live in, these things are not considered “extra”. As for asking the shul Rabbi, yes, when I have a question, I ask the Rabbi of my shul. He is extremely knowledgeable, has semicha, and I have no problems asking him.

Now, does saying these things are not “extra” mean they don’t happen? No. There are women in the community who don’t cover their hair, or wear pants. However, the Rabbi will never say it’s ok, and he encourages people to dress more appropriately – in private, and not via fire and brimstone speeches like most Beis Yaakovs do these days.

But when it comes to learning, our shul is fantastic! There are shiurim every day, chaburos a few nights per week, and on Shabbos there are numerous shiurim on various topics throughout the entire day.

Are we Zionist? Yes, and proudly so. In our shul, the gabbai used to make a mi sheberach every week for Gilad Shalit. You should have seen him the first week he didn’t have to say it anymore – he had tears streaming down his cheeks! The love that every member of our shul has for Israel is amazing.

Our community also has a kollel that is supported by the community. They learn b’chavrusah with many baal habatim every night.

This is a real MO community.

getzel, plenty of people attending the siyum want chareidim to serve in the army.

As for the 100,000 people, there are far many more people in Israel who want them to serve. Should we get those millions to sign a petition also?

Yahoo weather is showing 96 now in Chicago, with an expected high of 98. Then it’s supposed to start cooling off tomorrow, with it getting to a high of 80 on Sunday. Where did you get 113 from?

In my part of NJ, they’re saying a high of 104 tomorrow.

Yes, thanks, I received it!

I’ll have to check when I get home today, as I can’t check that email address from work.

I have posted an anonymous email address of mine here before – look for the thread where I wrote that my employer has openings.

Or he’s referring to Csar. I’m pretty sure that’s Joseph’s latest screen name. The mods don’t seem to have recognized him.

I once pointed out to them that Jews have a lower divorce rate, lower rate of drug use, tend to be well-educated (at least the non-kollel people) and make more money (again, non-kollel people). I asked if that was why they were trying to recruit Jews – to bring their stats up! Then the guy told me that he was born an Orthodox Jew, and his parents are still Orthodox, but he was “saved”. I told him that every night when he goes to bed, he should just think for a minute about how his parents are probably crying themselves to sleep every night over him. Then I told him that he doesn’t need to recruit to improve his stats – he can just return home to his original group!

He died al kiddush Hashem. The Jewish community of York had gathered in Clifford’s Tower trying to protect themselves from a mob. The tower was surrounded, and the mob demanded that the Jews convert to Christianity, or they would be tortured to death. R’ Yom Tov paskened that the Jews should kill themselves rather than convert or go through the torture.

The men in the tower killed their families. R’ Yom Tov then killed the men, then killed himself. The few people who refused were eventually let out of the tower with promises that they would not be harmed, and would be allowed to convert. They were then killed.

I was told that anyone who goes to college is a sheigitz by my 6th grade Rebbe. I went home that night and told both my parents what my Rebbe said about them (I didn’t know about Roshei Yeshivos such as R’ Hutner back then who had gone to college).

When I was 19, the Rosh Yeshiva of the yeshiva I was in at the time told me that if I left the yeshiva and went to college, I was throwing my life away, and there was no way to stay frum in college.

It turns out he was partially right on that one. While in school, he actually contacted me to encourage me to leave, saying I was only harming myself. I decided that if I was doomed anyway, I might as well enjoy myself on the way. Only later (while still in college!) did I decide that despite everything I was taught, he was probably wrong. That was when I became frum again.

Those are a few examples of things I was taught that were wrong.

I once heard this in a speech:

Hakaras Hatov is not about repaying someone for the good they did. Hakarah means recognition – you’re recognizing the good. Why is this the term that is used? Because sometimes, there is no way to repay someone.

I heard this at a Bonei Olam event, from one of their success stories. He said there was no way he could ever repay Bonei Olam for what they did for him. All he could do was recognize the good. He’d never be able to repay it.

When I was younger I once went to the mikvah on Erev Yom Kippur. There was one guy there who was just sitting in the water. He was a rather large guy, and everyone was waiting for him to get out. Someone asked him to hurry up, and he said, “But it’s so nice and warm in here, it’s like a spa. Can;t you give me a few more minutes?”

happiest, if it’s the one I’m thinking of, you can find it on the Modzitz website – modzitz.org Click the link on top for the music. It says the following story about it:

Although he was centered in Otvoczk, Rebbe Shaul Yedidya Elazar of Modzitz had Chassidim throughout the major towns and cities of Poland. One of these was Reb Azriel David Fastag, who became noted for his exceptional voice throughout Warsaw. Many came to the shul where Reb Azriel David and his brothers, who were also blessed with lovely voices, would daven on the Yamim Noraim [High Holy Days]. Reb Azriel David was the ba’al tefilla [led the prayers], while his brothers accompanied him as a choir. His crisp, clear and moving voice had a profound effect on all who heard him.

He lived simply, supporting himself from a small dry goods [clothing] store, but his happiness and fulfillment came of another source – the world of Negina. His moving tunes made their way to Otvoczk, where his Rebbe, R. Shaul Yedidya Elazar appreciated them immensely. The day a new niggun of R. Azriel David’s came to the Rebbe was like a “Yom Tov” for him. [One of his most memorable compositions is “M’heira Yishama,” a wedding tune.]

Dark clouds began to cover the skies of Europe – the clouds of Nazism. In spite of the terrible decrees, the yellow patch and the ghettoes, most Jews could not fathom what was about to befall them. Only a few “read the map” correctly and managed to escape the clutches of the Nazi occupation to safe havens. One of them was the Modzitzer Rebbe, Rebbe Shaul Yedidya Elazar, whose Chassidim made a tremendous effort to save him. As the Nazis entered Poland, the Chassidim smuggled him out of Poland to Vilna [Lithuania], and from there he made his way across Russia to Shanghai, China, eventually arriving in America in 1941.

Meanwhile in Poland, tens of thousands of Jews were being ‘shipped off’ daily to their death in cattle cars that were part of the railway system. Aroused from their warm beds in Warsaw, husbands were separated from their wives, children from their parents. The elderly were often shot on the spot in front of their loved ones. Then the Jews were gathered and sent off in these trains to a place where their existence would no longer trouble those dregs of humanity known as the Nazis – to Auschwitz, Treblinka, Majdanek, etc. What did it look like in one of those cattle cars of the “death train”?

What could one expect to find other than people in their death throes – gasping, sighing and crying? One could hear the stifled cries of children, crushed together and trampled upon by the spiked boots of the evil, cruel Nazis.

However, in one such car, it seemed like a “tone” of life managed to emerge from these crushed people. What – people on their way to the slaughter, singing??? Is this not some cruel Nazi joke? Let us look a bit closer…

An elderly Jew, wrapped up in his ragged clothing, his face white as snow, makes his way over to his neighbor on the death train, begging him to remind him of the niggun the Modzitzer Rebbe sang on Yom Kippur for the Avoda, to “Ma’areh Kohen.”

“Now – now – all you want to know about is niggunim?” answered the other, with a hard look at the Chassid, thinking that maybe all the suffering had caused him to lose his mind.

But this Modzitzer Chassid, Reb Azriel David Fastag, was no longer paying attention to his friend, or to anyone else on the train. In his mind, he was at the Amud HaTefilla [prayer stand] next to the Modzitzer Rebbe, and it is he who was the baal tefilla before all the Chassidim.

Suddenly, before his eyes, the words of the twelfth [of thirteen] Principle of Jewish Faith appeared: “Ani Ma’amin b’Emuna Sheleima, b’vias HaMoshiach; v’af al pi she’yismamaya, im kol zeh, achakeh lo b’chol yom she’yavo – I believe with perfect faith in the coming of the Moshiach; and even though he may tarry, nevertheless, I wait each day for his coming.” Closing his eyes, he meditated on these words and thought, “Just now, when everything seems lost, is a Jew’s faith put to the test.”

It was not long before he began to hum a quiet tune to these words. Amidst the heavy atmosphere of death and despair on the train, Reb Azriel David’s dveykus [attachment to Hashem] took him above it all.

“How can one of us be singing at such a time?” wondered his fellow Jews on the train. And with such a sweet voice! It must be, that from Heaven they are accompanying us, in mourning, to our death… But listen, what is it that they are singing? You’re about to be slaughtered, shot, poisoned or burnt and what are they singing? — I believe!!!”

The Modzitzer Chassid was completely above it all, a pillar of song, bringing out of his bloodied lungs the song of his life — the song of the eternity of the Jewish People. He was unaware of the silence in the cattle car, and of the hundreds of ears listening attentively in amazement. He also didn’t hear the voices as they gradually joined his song, at first quietly, but soon – growing louder and louder! Meanwhile, he made sure to write out the notes of the newly composed song…

The moving tune, with its holy words, had penetrated the hearts of the Jews on the train, and had joined to the pure emuna [faith] in their hearts, which burst out from them in the form of this great song. The song spread from car to car. Every mouth that could draw a breath from those congested cattle cars, filled with live “corpses” and pungent with the odor of people crowded together, joined in a piece of “Ani Ma’amin – I believe.” It became a wonderful, amazing symphony unto itself.

An elderly Jew, close to his death, asked for an explanation. His neighbor screamed to him, “We’re singing the Jewish People lives – chai – lives! You too, sing with us – the Jewish People lives, Ani Ma’amin!” Closing his eyes, the elderly Jew clenched his fists and sang with his remaining strength – “the Jewish People is alive, I believe that Moshiach Tzidkeinu [the Righteous] will come quickly,” and expired.

As the train neared the death camp, the railway workers wondered: from where is this amazing song coming? Could the Jews be singing their own burial service tune?

As if waking from a dream, Reb Azriel David opened his eyes to the sight of the singing train. His eyes were red from crying; his cheeks, wet with tears. Deeply moved, he yelled to whomever would listen, “My dear brothers! This niggun is the song of the Jewish soul. It is a song of pure faith, for which thousands of years of exile and troubles cannot overcome!”

Then, in a choked voice, he continued, “I will give my portion in Olam Haba [the World to Come] to whomever can take these notes of my song ‘Ani Ma’amin’ to the Modzitzer Rebbe!”

A hushed silence descended upon the train. Reb Azriel David lifted himself up by the ends of his thumbs, searching through the crowd that surrounded him. Two young men appeared, promising to bring the notes to the Modzitzer Rebbe, at any cost. One of them climbed upon the other, and in the small crack of the train’s roof that only he knew of, made a hole from which to escape. Poking his head out under the open sky, he said, “I see the blue Heavens above us, the stars are twinkling and the moon, with a fatherly face, is looking at me.”

“And what do you hear?” asked his companion.

Turning white, the young man answered, “I hear the Ministering Angels singing the Ani Ma’amin tune, and it’s ascending to the seven firmaments of Heaven…”

Bidding farewell to their brothers and sisters on the train, the two proceeded to jump off, one after the other. One was killed instantly from the fall, while the other survived, taking the notes of the song with him. He eventually found his way to Eretz Yisrael [perhaps to the Rebbe’s son, the Imrei Aish, who was in Tel-Aviv], and the notes were sent by mail to Rebbe Shaul Yedidya Elazar in New York.

Upon receiving the notes and having the “Ani Ma’amin” niggun sung, the Rebbe said, “When they sang ‘Ani Ma’amin’ on the death train, the pillars of the world were shaking. Hashem said, ‘Can it be that My Torah is a fraud? No! But whenever the Jews will sing ‘Ani Ma’amin’, I will remember the six million victims and have mercy on the rest of My People.'”

It is told that on the first Yom Kippur that the Rebbe sang the “Ani Ma’amin,” there were thousands of Jews in the shul. The entire Kahal [congregation] burst into tears, which fell like water into the pool of tears and blood of the Jewish Nation. The tune soon spread throughout Klal Yisrael [world Jewry].

“With this niggun,” said Rebbe Shaul Yedidya Elazar, “the Jewish People went to the gas chambers. And with this niggun, the Jews will march to greet Moshiach.”

You can make a sign! With a lot of exclamation points! Just like your post! Have it say the following! “Davening is a time for talking – to Hashem! Have your conversation! Just do it with the proper partner!”

PBA: Tomche said the women would get money no matter what, whether she listened to Beis Din or not. I was simply refuting his claim.

As for forcing her to take the get, you’re correct. In such a case, I assume they would use a heter meiah rabbonim for the man, and the woman would be unable to remarry. That is not an agunah case.

Tomche: except if the Beis Din decides that a get isn’t warranted. If she drops her claim, then fine – no payments need to be made. If she doesn’t, then she forfeits her right to the money, as is outlined in the document.

Making your way through the internet takes everything you’ve got.

Taking a break from all your worries, sure would help a lot.

Wouldn’t you like to get away?

Sometimes you want to go

Where no one knows your real name,

but they’re always glad you came.

You wanna be where you can see,

our troubles are all the same

You wanna be where everybody knows

Your screen name.

You wanna go where people know,

people are all the same,

You wanna go where everybody knows

your screen name.

nishtdayngesheft: True, at the time the psak was not on IVF. However, later on, when IVF came around, the Satmar Rebbe at the time ruled that R’ Yoel’s reasoning extended to IVF as well.

A friend of mine who went through IVF told me that he was once at a small event from A TIME. They had a speaker from Satmar there, and he got up and said IVF is assur, and children from it are safek mamzeirim. It did not go over too well!

Be prepared for disappointment as you realize that you don’t feel any holier with it on.

Naysberg: And Gedolim in the US (such as R’ Schachter) paskened that such a get is fine, and encourage use of the halachic prenup.